Pope to begin passionate, chaotic Philippine visit

MANILA: Pope Francis will on Thursday immerse himself in the Catholic Church’s passionate and chaotic Asian heartland as he lands in the Philippines for a five-day trip that is tipped to attract a world-record papal crowd.

The charismatic pontiff will fly into the capital of Manila late on Thursday afternoon from Sri Lanka, where a million worshippers gathered to watch him canonise that nation’s first saint and listen to a homily on religious tolerance.

Francis has said his two-nation tour is aimed at adding momentum to already impressive growth for the Church in Asia, with its support in the Philippines the benchmark for the rest of the region.

Eighty percent of the former Spanish colony’s 100 million people practise a famously fervent brand of Catholicism, and the pope is set to enjoy thunderously enthusiastic crowds throughout his stay.

“Every step he makes, every car ride he takes, every moment he stays with us is precious for us,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said as he called on all Filipinos to make an effort to see him.

“Seeing him pass by is a grace. Waving our hands at him in loving welcome is an experience of a lifetime.”

The high-point is expected to be an open-air mass at dusk on Sunday at a park in Manila, with organisers preparing for up to six million people despite a forecast of rain and security concerns.

“I really want to see the pope, not just see him on a TV, so I am prepared to sacrifice,” said saleswoman Vanessa Tupaz, 54, referring also to worries about the dangers of being in such a huge crowd.

“There is a feeling that blessings will be coming and there will be answered prayers and naturally, there will be a feeling that you are part of a celebration.”

Organisers have said that, if the crowd is as big as expected, it will surpass the previous record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.

Francis, who will be making the fourth papal visit to the Philippines, is also due to visit communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed or left missing 7,350 people in 2013.

Church officials have said one of the main reasons for Francis wanting to visit the Philippines was to make a “mercy and compassion” trip to meet survivors of the typhoon.

On Saturday, he is scheduled to deliver a mass to tens of thousands of people in Tacloban, one of the worst-hit cities in the central Philippines, and have an intimate lunch with 30 typhoon survivors.

– Security concerns –

Authorities have expressed major concerns over the pope’s security in the Philippines, where attempts have been made to kill visiting pontiffs twice before.

Nearly 40,000 soldiers and police are being deployed to protect the pontiff in what Philippine military chief General Gregorio Catapang described as a “security nightmare”.

Potential stampedes from the giant crowds, as well as the threat of Islamic militants or lone-wolf assailants are among the concerns.

On the first papal visit to the Philippines in 1970, Bolivian painter Benjamin Mendoza donned a fake priest’s cassock and swung a knife at Pope Paul VI as he arrived at Manila airport.

Paul VI was wounded but continued his trip without disclosing his injury.

One week before John Paul II’s 1995 visit, police uncovered a plot by foreign Islamist extremists to kill him by bombing his Manila motorcade route.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino made a nationally televised address on Monday specifically to highlight the security threats for the pope and call on all Filipinos to help protect him.

“I ask you, do you want history to record that a tragedy involving the pope happened in the Philippines,” Aquino said.

Adding to the concerns, the 78-year-old pontiff has insisted he will not travel in a bullet-proof “popemobile” during his big events so can he be closer to the faithful.

– Sri Lanka success –

The pope flew out of Sri Lanka on Thursday morning, a day after one million gathered to hear him give mass in what police said was the biggest public celebration ever for the capital of Colombo.

Many had waited through the night to see the first pope to visit the island in two decades canonise Joseph Vaz, a 17th century missionary who disguised himself as a beggar to evade persecution.

Francis also became the first pope to visit Sri Lanka’s former warzone, using a prayer service at a small jungle shrine to urge forgiveness to heal the wounds of a long civil war.

His visit, which began on Tuesday, came days after an election that exposed bitter divisions on the island and saw the surprise victory of Maithripala Sirisena over strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith said the pope had brought “great joy” to the island as it struggled to recover from civil war. (AFP)